Nested pcm battery pack

ABSTRACT

A battery pack comprises a pair of physically separate battery cells share a single protection circuit module (PCM). Each further saw comprises a respective pair of electrodes, with both pairs of electrodes being connected to a single, common protection circuit board (PCB) of the PCM. The common PCM may be located in a spacing between adjacent ends of the batteries such that a widthwise dimension of the PCB has an upright orientation between the two batteries.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/143,029, filed on Sep. 26, 2018, which claims the benefit of priorityof U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/579,615, filed on Oct. 31,2017, and U.S. Provisional Application 62/579,604, filed on Oct. 31,2017, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

A common mechanism for providing battery power to portable electronicdevices is by use of modular secondary battery packs. Such battery packsoften employ rechargeable lithium-ion based battery cells, such aslithium-ion polymer battery cells, also known as Li-Poly, Li-Pol, orLiPo cells.

A protection circuit module (PCM) is usually included in the batterypack, being connected to the battery cell by a pair of electrodes toperform protective functions with respect to operation of the batterycell. Typical functions of the PCM include preventing overcharge,preventing over discharge, and preventing over-current of the batterycell.

In many electronic devices, including mobile devices such as mobilephones and wearable devices such as smart glasses, space is at apremium, demanding increasing space-saving in battery pack design.Space-saving in battery packs can, however, come at a cost when theavailable space/volume for PCM component are reduced to suboptimallevels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various ones of the appended drawings merely illustrate exampleembodiments of the present disclosure and cannot be considered aslimiting its scope. To facilitate collation of numbered items in thedescription to the drawings, the first digit of each numbered itemcorresponds to the figure in which that item first appears. In thedrawings:

FIGS. 1A and 1B shows a battery pack according to existing structuralarrangements. FIG. 1A is a schematic three-dimensional view of anexisting battery pack, in which a PCM insulation cover is removed forclarity of view. FIG. 1B is a partial cross-section, on an enlargedscale, of the existing battery pack of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view according to an example embodiment inwhich the battery pack comprises a pair of batteries sharing a PCM incommon, with the electrodes of the respective batteries being connectedto opposite major faces of a protection circuit board (PCB) forming partof the PCM.

FIG. 3 is a schematic three-dimensional view of a multi-cell batterypack according to the example embodiment of FIG. 2 , with one of thebattery cells being shown in broken lines to afford a clearer view ofthe single PCM shared by the pair of battery cells.

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view comparing the respective lengths of, onthe one hand, a nested dual-cell battery pack analogous to thatexemplified with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 , and, on the other hand, apair of identical battery cells with separate respective PCMs,consistent with the existing configuration described with reference toFIGS. 1A and 1B.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a dual-cell battery pack accordingto another example embodiment of the disclosure, in which the electrodesof the respective pair of battery cells are connected to a common majorface of a common PCB.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a dual cell battery pack accordingto a further example embodiment of the disclosure, in which theelectrodes of a respective pair of battery cells are connected to anedge face of the common PCB.

FIG. 7A is a partial cross-sectional view of a battery pack according tothe example embodiment of FIGS. 2-4 in an intermediate stage duringmanufacture of the battery pack, according to one example embodiment.

FIG. 7B is a partial cross-sectional view of a battery pack according tothe example embodiment of FIG. 5 , in an intermediate stage duringmanufacture of the battery pack, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7C is a partial cross-sectional view of a battery pack according tothe example embodiment of FIG. 6 , in an intermediate stage duringmanufacture of the battery pack according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7D is an isolated schematic three-dimensional view of a part of thePCM of the example embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 6 and7C, showing details of edge-mounted contact pads and complementaryelectrode end portions connected thereto.

The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of an existing battery pack structure.The conventional battery pack 100 of FIG. 1A includes a single lithiumpolymer battery cell 103 coupled to a safety circuit in the form of aprotection circuit module (PCM) 112. As mentioned previously, the PCM112 provides power control functionality to the battery cell 103, e.g.for safety purposes. Typically, the PCM prevents overcharge,over-discharge, and/or overcurrent in the battery cell 103. The PCM 112is connected to the battery cell 103 by a pair of electrodes 109 thatproject from the battery cell 103. In conventional fashion, the pair ofelectrodes 109 are terminals of the battery cell 103, consisting of acathode and an anode.

The PCM 112 comprises a printed circuit board or protection circuitboard (PCB) 115 and a plurality of PCM components mounted on the PCB115, the available volume for location of PCM components on the PCB 115being indicated in the drawings by PCM block 118. It will be appreciatedthat the PCB 115 comprises a rectangular substrate carrying anintegrated protection circuit thereon for connection to the PCMcomponents and to the battery electrodes 109. To facilitate modular useof the battery pack 100, the assembly consisting of the battery cell 103and the PCM 112 is housed in a casing 106, part of which providesinsulation 131 covering or the PCM 112. For clarity of view, theinsulation 131 and its analogs are omitted from some of the schematicviews with respect to a number of illustrated example embodiments.

Having a relatively thin, elongate rectangular shape, the PCB 115 has apair of substantially rectangular major outer faces which aresubstantially parallel to one another and which face in opposite outwarddirections. In FIG. 1B, these opposite major faces are designated as atop face 124 and a bottom face 125. Note that in this description,reference to the top and bottom faces do not indicate a particularorientation or spatial attribute of the respective faces, but is insteadused as arbitrary designations to distinguish between these two faces indescription.

The top and bottom faces 124, 125 are connected by a peripheral edgeface that extends transversely between them. The edge face includes apair of end edge faces at the longitudinal end edges of the PCB 115, anda pair of side edge faces 135, 136 (FIG. 1B) at the lateral side edgesof the PCB 115. For clarity, the side edge faces (best seen in FIG. 1B)are designated as a front edge face 135 furthest from the battery cell103, and a rear edge face 136 closest to the battery cell 103. The PCB115 is oriented such that a widthwise dimension of the PCB 115 (i.e.,the dimension extending between the side edge faces 135, 136) issubstantially parallel to a lengthwise direction of the battery cell103. A lengthwise direction of the PCB 115 (i.e., the dimension of thePCB 115 that extends between its end edges) is oriented transversely tothe lengthwise direction of the battery cell 103. The thicknessdimension of the PCB 115 (i.e., that dimension of the PCB 115 thatextends between the top face 124 and the bottom face 125), being normalto the widthwise dimension, is oriented transversely to the lengthwisedirection of the battery cell 103.

As seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B, connections of the respective electrodes 109to the PCB 115 are in the existing battery back 100 located on the topface 124 of the PCB 115. Each electrode comprises a metal tab 141 thatprojects longitudinally (relatively to the lengthwise direction of thebattery cell 103) from the battery cell 103, passes beneath the bottomface 125 of the PCB 115, and is bent 180° to fold over into contact withthe top face 124 at respective terminal end portions 147. The electrodes109 are typically soldered to respective terminal pads provided on thePCB 115.

Location of the electrode contacts on the top face 124 interrupts theavailable space for the PCM block 118, so that the cumulative availablevolume for PCM components on the PCB top face 124 is given by the sum ofthree separate PCM sub-blocks, indicated as 118 a, 118 b, and 118 c.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes devices, systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine programproducts that embody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In thefollowing description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding ofvarious embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. It will be evident,however, to those skilled in the art, that embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

One aspect of the disclosure provides for a battery pack comprising twobatteries sharing a single PCM. This provides an overall more compactprotection circuit packaging, allowing additional system volume to beallocated to additional battery capacity or allows for a smaller,slimmer design by freeing up space for the same battery capacity.

The electrodes of the pair of battery cells of the battery pack may allbe connected to a single, common PCB of the PCM. In some embodiments,the batteries are elongate and are longitudinally aligned with a spacingbetween adjacent ends of the batteries, the common PCM being located inthe spacing between the batteries. The PCB is in some embodimentsoriented “vertically” between the two batteries, by which is meant thatthe thickness dimension of the PCB (i.e., that dimension of the PCBwhich extends between its major outer faces) extends in the lengthwisedirection of the batteries. Worded differently, the widthwise dimensionof the PCB stands upright between the batteries, when the battery packis seen in side view.

In some such embodiments, the respective pairs of electrodes may beconnected to opposite major faces of the PCB, so that each of the majorouter faces of the PCB is interrupted by a respective pair of electrodeconnections. In other embodiments, all four electrodes are connected toa single one of the pair of major faces, so that the other one of themajor faces is uninterrupted by any electrode connection and issubstantially entirely available for the placement of PCM componentsthereon.

In yet further embodiments, the electrodes of at least one of thebatteries may be connected to the edge face of the PCB, so that both ofthe major faces are uninterrupted by any electrode connection and aresubstantially wholly available for receiving PCM components thereon. Ina particular example embodiment, the PCB has an upright orientation (asdescribed previously), with the electrodes of the respective batteriesbeing connected to opposite side edge faces of the PCB.

A number of specific example embodiments will now be described ingreater detail with reference to the FIGS. 2-7D. For ease ofunderstanding, the same reference numerals are used for indicatingcorresponding parts or elements in FIG. 1 and in FIGS. 2-7D, even whenthere are in some instances differences between the specifics of thecorresponding parts or elements.

FIG. 2 shows one example embodiment of a dual-cell battery pack 200 witha nested PCM arrangement. The battery pack 200 includes a pair oflithium polymer battery cells 103, 103′ identical to that described withreference to FIG. 1 . Note that, in this description, the term batteryrefers to a battery cell together with its electrodes. As can best beseen in FIG. 3 , the battery cells 103, 103′ are longitudinally aligned,in that their lengthwise dimensions are parallel and in line with oneanother, the battery cells 103, 103′ lying substantially in a commonplane. The battery cells 103, 103′ are arranged end-to-end, with alongitudinal spacing between the adjacent ends of the batteries 103,103′. Returning to FIG. 2 , it can be seen that a common, shared PCM 112is located within the longitudinal spacing between the battery cell 103,with respective electrodes 109, 109′ being connected to a single PCB 115forming part of the common PCM 112.

The PCB 115 has an “upright,” orientation in which the widthwisedirection of the PCB 115 (i.e., that dimension of the PCB 115 thatextends between its opposite lateral side edges) is normal to thelengthwise direction of the aligned battery cells 103, 103′. In otherwords, the thickness dimension of the PCB 115 (i.e., that dimension ofthe PCB 115 that extends between the opposite major outer faces 124,125) extends in the lengthwise direction of the aligned battery cells103, 103′. In the example embodiment of FIG. 2 , the electrode 109 of afirst one of the battery cells 103 is connected to the bottom face 125of the PCB 115, while the electrode 109′ of a second one of the batterycells 103′ is connected to the top face 124 of the PCB 115.

Terminal end portions 147, 147′ of the respective electrodes 109, 109′are soldered or welded to the corresponding exposed gold contact pads207, 207′ are provided on the opposite major faces 124, 125 of the PCB115. As can be seen in FIG. 2 , the terminal end portion 147, 147′ ofeach battery cell 103, 103′ is connected to the major face of the PCB115 furthest therefrom. The battery cells 103, 103′ are inverted, sothat their respective electrodes 109, 109′ are transversely misalignedrelative to the longitudinal direction of the battery pack 200. Thus,the electrode tab 141 of the electrode 109 of the first battery cell 103projects longitudinally from the battery cell 103, extends past arespective side edge of the PCB 115, and thereafter bends substantially90° such that its terminal end portion 147 lies flat against thecorresponding contact pad 207′ provided on the bottom face 125 of thePCB 115. Each electrode 109′ of the second battery cell 103′ issimilarly arranged, except that its electrode tab 141′ extends past theopposite side edge of the PCB 115, and its terminal end portion 147′ issoldered or welded to the contact pad 207 of the opposite major face 124of the PCB 115.

Electronic PCM components 118 are mounted on both of the major faces124, 125 of the PCB 115. As can best be seen in FIG. 3 , the availablespace for the PCM components 118 is on both major faces 124, 125interrupted by the respective electrodes 109, 109′, so that the PCMblock is on both faces separated into three sub-blocks, similar to thearrangement of the FIG. 1A. In this example embodiment, the PCM 112provides a single protection circuit to which both battery cells 103,103′ are connected by their respective electrodes 109, 109′, so that thePCM components 118 on the opposite faces 124, 125 of the PCB 115 formpart of a single, common, protection circuit. In other embodiments, thePCB 115 and PCM components 118 may be configured to provide separateprotection circuits to separately control operation of the respectivebattery cells 103, 103′.

It is a benefit of the nested PCM arrangement of the battery pack 200that it provides for space saving by reducing the length of the batterypack 200 without compromising either battery capacity or available spacefor PCM components 118. FIG. 4 shows a comparison of, on the one hand,two of the earlier-described conventional battery packs 100, 100′arranged in an end to end configuration, and, on the other hand, thebattery pack 200 with a common PCM in a nested configuration. Note thatthe respective battery cells 103, 103′ of both of the illustrativeconfigurations are identical, yet the overall length of the nestedbattery pack 200 is smaller than that of the conventional stack, asrepresented by the length difference Δx. Not only does the PCM sharingof the battery back 200 thus provide for space saving, but a largervolume for PCM mounting on the PCB 115 is provided by utilizing bothmajor faces 124, 125 of the PCB 115. Note that, in other embodiments,the space saving achieved by the described PCM nesting can be utilizedto increase battery length, and thus battery capacity, withoutincreasing the dimensional parameters of the battery stack.

FIG. 5 shows another example embodiment of a dual cell battery pack 500with a shared PCM arrangement. The battery pack 500 is largely similarin arrangement and configuration to the battery pack 200 described withreference to FIGS. 2-4 , a major distinction being that the electrodes109, 109′ of both battery cells 103, 103′ are connected to a single,common one of the major outer faces 124, 125 of the PCB 115. In thisexample embodiment, all of the electrodes 109, 109′ are connected to thebottom face 125

In this example embodiment, the electrodes are connected to the bottomface 125 in a stacked arrangement, so that the electrodes 109 of onlyone of the battery cells 103, 103′ are connected directly to the PCB115, the electrodes 109′ of the other battery cell being connected tothe underlying electrodes 109. As can be seen in FIG. 5 , the terminalend portions 147 of the electrodes 109 of the first battery cell 103 isin this example embodiment directly soldered or welded to respectiveexposed gold contact pads 207 on the bottom face 125, the end portions147 of the electrode tabs 141 lying flat against the bottom face 125.The electrodes 109′ of the second the battery cell 103′ is connected tothe electrodes 109 of the first battery cell 103. In particular, theterminal end portions 147′ of the electrode tabs 141′ of the secondbattery cell 103′ lie flat against the end portions 147 of the firstbattery cell 103, being soldered or welded thereto to provide aconductive coupling of the second battery cell's electrodes 109′ to theprotection circuit of the PCM 112.

Note that it is an advantage of the PCM arrangement of the battery pack500 that the top face 124 of the PCB 115 is uninterrupted by anyelectrode connections, and is available in its entirety for theplacement of PCM components 118 thereon. Thus, the battery pack 500 hasa greater PCM block volume than the battery pack 200 described withreference to FIGS. 2-4 . This may be leveraged in design of PCMcomponent placement to achieve further reduction in the overall lengthof the battery pack 500, e.g., by reducing the height by which the PCMblock projects outwardly from the major faces 124, 125.

FIG. 6 shows yet a further example embodiment of a dual-cell batterypack 600 with a shared PCM 112. The battery pack 600 is generallysimilar in configuration and arrangement to the example embodimentdescribed with reference to FIGS. 2-4 , a major distinction being thatin the example embodiment of FIG. 6 , electrodes 109, 109′ of respectivebattery cells 103, 103′ are connected to the edge face of the PCB 115.In particular, the respective battery cells 103, 103′ are connected todifferent respective side edge faces 135, 136, with the PCB 115 havingan “upright” orientation in which the opposite major faces 124, 125 ofthe PCB 115 face towards the respective battery cells 103, 103′ betweenwhich the PCM 112 is sandwiched.

As can be seen in FIG. 6 , the electrodes 109 of the first battery cell103 is connected to a first one of the side edge faces 135, with theelectrodes 109′ of the second battery cell 103′ being connected to theopposite side edge face 136. Turning briefly to FIG. 7D (which shows thePCM 112 during an intermediate stage of manufacture, as will bedescribed later herein) it can be seen that each electrode 109 includesan elongated connective portion in the form of an electrode tab 141 ofsimilar width to that described in the previous embodiments, and awidened terminal end portion 647. Note again that, as can be seen inFIG. 7D, the peripherally extending edge face of the PCB 115 consists ofa pair of opposite side edge faces 135, 136 (only one of which can beseen in FIG. 7D) and, transverse thereto, a pair of opposite end edgefaces 706 (only one of which can be seen in FIG. 7D).

The end portion 647 of each electrode 109 is connected by soldering orwelding to a respective somewhat wider edge-mounted contact pad 607. Inthis example embodiment, the contact pads 607 are provided by metalsurfaces (in this embodiment, gold-plated surfaces) on the respectiveside edge faces 135, 136, connection of the electrodes 109 thereto beingachieved by solder joint attachment of the terminal end portions 647 tothe respective contact pads 607. In other embodiments, the electrodes109 can be welded to the exposed gold pads 607. The contact pads 607 areconductively coupled to the integrated circuit of the PCB 115. In thisexample embodiment, the increased width of the terminal end portions 647and contact pads 607 are selected such that the contact surface betweenthe terminal end portions 647 and the contact pads 607 are at least asgreat as the corresponding contact surface between the conventionallystructured electrodes 109 and the PCB 115 of existing battery packs,such as the battery pack 100 described with reference to FIG. 1 .

Returning now to FIG. 6 , it can be seen that the electrode tabs 141,141′ are folded. Each electrode tab 141, 141′ thus projectslongitudinally from the corresponding battery cell 103, extending pastthe corresponding side edge face 135, 136 of the PCB 115, whereafter itfolds back on itself by about 180° towards its soldered connection tothe corresponding edge-mounted contact pad 607.

Due to edge-mounting of the electrode connections, both major faces 124,125 of the battery pack 600 are substantially free of intrusion by anyof the electrodes 109, and are substantially wholly available for theplacement of PCM components 118. As discussed previously, the additionalfree area on the flat major faces 124, 125 can be optimized for allowinga more compact PCM 112, while achieving the previously discussedspace-saving benefits arising from using a shared PCB 115 for thestaggered battery cells 103, 103′. Instead, or in addition, theadditional volume available for PCM components can be utilized toprovide improved PCM functionality and/or reliability.

FIGS. 7A-7D are respective views of an intermediate step in themanufacturing of the respectively described dual cell battery packs. Ineach of the described embodiments, the respective electrodes 109, 109′are fixedly attached to the PCB 115 while the electrodes 109, 109′ arein an unbent or pre-final condition, after which the PCB 115 is rotatedinto its final orientation, in the process bending or folding theelectrodes 109, 109′ into their final positions shown in FIGS. 2, 5 ,and 6 respectively. These different embodiments will now briefly bedescribed separately.

FIG. 7A shows an intermediate step in the manufacturing of the batterypack 200 described and exemplified with reference to FIGS. 2-4 . In afirst step, PCM components 118 are connected to both major faces 124,125 of the PCB 115 such as to leave access to the respective contactpads 207, 207′ (FIG. 2 ) on the opposite major faces. Thereafter, whilethe respective electrode tabs 141, 141′ are in a rectilinear, unbentcondition, the respective terminal end portions 147, 147′ are solderedto the contact pads 207, 207′ on the respective major faces 124, 125.Because the electrode tabs 141, 141′ project longitudinally from thebattery cells 103, 103′, the PCB 115 is oriented in a “horizontal”position during attachment, the widthwise dimension of the PCB 115 beinglongitudinally aligned with the battery cells 103, 103′. After suchconnection, the battery pack 200 is in the condition shown in FIG. 7A.

Thereafter, the PCB 115 is rotated through 90° (being rotatedcounterclockwise in the orientation seen in FIG. 7A) into the positionshown in FIG. 2 , in which the widthwise dimension of the PCB 115 issubstantially normal to the lengthwise direction of the alignedbatteries cells 103, 103′. Such rotation of the PCM 112 is in thisembodiment achieved by folding the respective electrode tabs 141, 141′through about 90° to create the respective bends or kinks therein, asshown in FIG. 2 . Finally, PCM insulation 131 is attached on oppositesides of the assembly, covering the longitudinal gap between the batterycells 103, 103′ within which the PCM 112 is located.

It will be appreciated that a benefit of the described method ofmanufacturing is that access to the PCB 115 and the electrode endportions 147, 147′ is easier in the position shown in FIG. 7A than inthe final position of FIG. 2 . This is in part due to the fact that thelongitudinal spacing between the adjacent ends of the battery cells 103,103′ decreases when the PCB 115 and the attached electrode end portions147, 147′ are rotated into their final positions. The exemplified methodof manufacturing thus promotes manufacturing quality and requires lessexpensive tooling than would be the case if the electrodes 109, 109′were to be attached to the PCB 115 in their final shapes and positions.

FIG. 7B is analogous to FIG. 7A, in that it shows an intermediate stepin the manufacturing of the battery pack 500 described and exemplifiedwith reference to FIG. 5 . The above description with reference to FIG.7A applies analogously to the steps for manufacturing the battery pack500 consistent with FIG. 7B. A major distinction, however, is that therespective end portions 147, 147′ of the electrodes 109, 109′ areconnected in common to a single one of the major faces of the PCB 115,in this description indicated as the bottom face 125.

Thus, with the PCB 115 in the orientation shown in FIG. 7B, in which itswidth is aligned with the lengthwise directions of the electrode tabs114, 114′, the end portions 147 of the electrode tabs 114 of the firstbattery 103 are soldered to respective contact pads 207 on the bottomface 125 of the PCB 115. Thereafter, the end portions 147′ of theelectrode tabs 114′ of the second battery 103′ are soldered to the endportions 147 of the first battery 103. The remainder of themanufacturing method proceeds as previously, with the PCM 112 beingrotated counterclockwise through about 90° into the final position shownin FIG. 5 , in the process bending or folding the respective electrodetabs 114, 114′ through about 90°.

Finally, FIG. 7C and 7D illustrate an intermediate step in themanufacturing of the battery pack 600 such as that described previouslywith reference to FIG. 6 . Again, the manufacturing process is analogousto that described previously with reference to FIG. 7A and 7B.

In the manufacturing of the battery pack 600, however, the respectiveend portions 647 of the electrode tabs 141, 141′ are soldered to theedge-mounted contact pads 607 while the electrode tabs 141, 141′ arerectilinear and extend in the directions indicated by dotted lines 707in FIG. 7C. In this position, it will be appreciated that the PCB 115 isoriented relative to the battery cells 103, 103′ such that its widthwisedimension is transverse to the lengthwise direction of the battery cells103, 103′.

Thereafter, the PCM 112 is rotated through 180° into its final positionshown in FIG. 6 . This is achieved by folding the ends of the electrodetabs 141, 141′ back on itself so that the electrode end portion 647,647′ point back towards the battery cell 103 from which it projects. Toachieve this 180° fold in the electrode tabs 141, 141′, the electrodetabs are in this example given two separate closely spaced 90° folds orangles. It will be appreciated that thus bending the electrode tabs 141,141′ draws the battery cells 103, 103′ closer together, and rotates thePCM blocks 118 into their final positions shown in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 7D shows a schematic three-dimensional view of the end portions 647of the electrodes 109 of the first battery cell 103 welded to theircorresponding edge-mounted contact pads 607, before folding of theelectrode tabs 141 commences.

OVERVIEW

From the above-described example embodiments, it will be seen that oneaspect of the disclosure provides for a battery pack comprising:

-   -   a pair of physically separate electrochemical batteries, each        battery having a respective pair of electrodes projecting        therefrom; and    -   a protection circuit module (PCM) that is electrically coupled        to both of the pair of batteries and that is configured to        control one or more functions of the batteries, the PCM        comprising:        -   a protective circuit board (PCB), electric coupling of the            pair of batteries to the PCM being via connection of the            respective electrodes of both of the pair of batteries to            the PCB; and        -   electronic PCM components mounted on the PCB.

In some embodiments, the batteries are elongate modular units that arelongitudinally aligned with a longitudinal spacing between adjacent endsof the batteries, the PCM being located within the longitudinal spacingbetween the batteries. The PCB in some such embodiments has a pair ofparallel major faces and a peripheral edge face extending transverselybetween the major faces, a thickness dimension of the PCB being definedby a transverse spacing between the parallel major faces. The PCB may beoriented such that the thickness dimension of the PCB extends in thelengthwise direction of the aligned batteries, each of the major facesof the PCB facing toward a respective one of the batteries between whichthe PCM is located. In some embodiments, the PCM components are mountedon both major faces of the PCB.

In some embodiments, the electrodes of a first one of the pair ofbatteries is connected to a first one of the major faces of the PCB, theelectrodes of the second one of the pair of batteries being connected toa second, opposite one of the major faces of the PCB. In one suchembodiment, for each of the pair of batteries, the electrodes of thebattery is connected to the major face of the PCB that is furthest fromthe battery, facing away therefrom. The respective pairs of electrodesmay extend from the respective batteries past opposite side edges of thePCB, the side edges of the PCB extending transversely to the lengthwisedirection of the aligned batteries.

In other embodiments, connection of the electrodes to the PCB is suchthat a first one of the pair of major faces of the PCB is free ofelectrode connections, such that substantially the entirety of the firstmajor face of the PCB is available for the placement of PCM components.Both pairs of electrodes may for example be connected to a second one ofthe pair of major faces, opposite to the first major face. In one suchembodiment, the pairs of electrodes are connected to the PCB in astacked configuration in which respective end portions of a first pairof electrodes lie flat against the second major face, and respective endportions of a second pair of electrodes lie flat against thecorresponding end portions of the first pair of electrodes.

In yet further embodiments, at least one of the pairs of electrodes isconnected to the edge face of the PCB. In some embodiments, both of thepairs of electrodes are connected to the edge face of the PCB. The edgeface of the PCB includes a pair of side edge faces extendinglongitudinally along the PCB on opposite sides thereof, the side edgefaces extending transversely relative to the lengthwise direction of thealigned batteries. In some embodiments, the respective pairs ofelectrodes are connected to opposite side edge faces, such that theelectrodes of one battery are connected to one of the side edge faces,and the electrodes of the other battery are connected to the other sideedge face.

The PCB made some such embodiments include a respective electrodecontact pad on the edge face for connection to a respective electrode,each electrode contact pad having a width greater than a connectiveportion of a corresponding electrode tab extending between the batteryand the electrode contact pad. Each of the electrode contact pads on theedge face may comprise a metal surface deposited on the edge face andconnected to a protection circuit integrated in the PCB.

A further aspect of the disclosure provides for a method comprisingcomprising, for each of a pair of physically separate electrochemicalbatteries, connecting a respective pair of electrodes of the battery toa protective circuit board (PCB) of a protection circuit module (PCM)that is configured to control one or more functions of the batteries,such that both of the batteries are connected to the single PCB incommon. In some embodiments, the PCB has a pair of parallel major facesand a peripheral edge face extending transversely between the majorfaces, a thickness dimension of the PCB being defined by a transversespacing between the parallel major faces. The method may in such casesfurther comprise:

-   -   positioning the PCM such that it is located within a        longitudinal spacing between the pair of batteries, the pair of        batteries being elongate modular units that are longitudinally        aligned; and    -   orienting the PCB such that the thickness dimension of the PCB        extends in the lengthwise direction of the aligned batteries,        such that each of the major faces of the PCB faces towards a        respective one of the batteries between which the PCM is        located.

The connecting of the electrodes to the PCB in some embodimentscomprises: connecting the electrodes of a first one of the pair ofbatteries to a first one of the major faces of the PCB; and connectingthe electrodes of a second one of the pair of batteries to a second oneof the major faces of the PCB.

In other embodiments, the connecting of electrodes to the PCB comprises:connecting the electrodes of a first one of the pair of battery to afirst one major face of the PCB; and connecting the electrodes of asecond one of the pair of batteries to the first major face of the PCB.

LANGUAGE

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the disclosed matter has been described withreference to specific example embodiments, various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individuallyor collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience andwithout intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application toany single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed, is:
 1. A method comprising: for each of a pair ofphysically separate electrochemical batteries, connecting a respectivepair of electrodes of each battery to a protective circuit board (PCB)of a protection circuit module (PCM) that is configured to control oneor more functions of the batteries, such that both of the batteries areconnected to the PCB in common.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: thePCB has a pair of parallel major faces and a peripheral edge faceextending transversely between the major faces, a thickness dimension ofthe PCB being defined by a transverse spacing between the parallel majorfaces; and wherein the method further comprises: positioning the PCMsuch that it is located within a longitudinal spacing between the pairof batteries, the pair of batteries being elongate modular units thatare longitudinally aligned, thus defining a lengthwise direction of aresultant battery pack; and orienting the PCB such that the thicknessdimension of the PCB extends in the lengthwise direction of the alignedbatteries, such that each of the major faces of the PCB faces towards arespective one of the batteries between which the PCM is located.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the orienting of the PCB comprises: initiallypositioning of the PCM within the longitudinal spacing such that thethickness direction of the PCB extends transversely to the lengthwisedirection of the aligned batteries, the major faces of the PCB beingsubstantially parallel to said lengthwise direction; connecting theelectrodes of both batteries to the PCB while the thickness dimension ofthe PCB is oriented transversely to said lengthwise direction; andthereafter rotating the PCB relative to said lengthwise direction intothe orientation in which the thickness dimension of the PCB extends insaid lengthwise direction, thereby causing kinked deformation of each ofthe connected electrodes.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein theconnecting the electrodes to the PCB comprises: connecting theelectrodes of a first one of the pair of batteries to a first one of themajor faces of the PCB; and connecting the electrodes of a second one ofthe pair of batteries to a second one of the major faces of the PCB. 5.The method of claim 4, wherein, for each of the pair of batteries, theelectrodes of the battery is connected to that major face of the PCBthat is furthest from the respective battery, facing away therefrom. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the pairs of electrodes extend from therespective batteries past opposite side edges of the PCB, the side edgesof the PCB extending transversely to the lengthwise direction of thealigned batteries.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein the connecting theelectrodes to the PCB comprises: connecting the electrodes of a firstone of the pair of battery to a first major face of the PCB; andconnecting the electrodes of a second one of the pair of batteries tothe first major face of the PCB.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein theconnecting of the electrodes to the first major face of the PCBcomprises connecting both pairs of electrodes connected to the firstmajor face of the PCB in a stacked configuration in which respective endportions of a first pair of electrodes lie flat against the first majorface, and respective end portions of a second pair of electrodes lieflat against the corresponding end portions of the first pair ofelectrodes.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein connection of theelectrodes to the PCB is such that an opposite, second major face of thePCB, is free of electrode connections, such that substantially theentirety of the first major face of the PCB is available for placementof PCM components.
 10. The method of claim 3, wherein connecting theelectrodes to the PCB comprises connecting at least one of the pair ofelectrodes to the edge face of the PCB.
 11. The method of claim 3,wherein: the edge face of the PCB includes a pair of side edge facesextending longitudinally along the PCB on opposite sides thereof, theside edge faces extending transversely relative to the lengthwisedirection of the aligned batteries; and wherein the respective pairs ofelectrodes are connected to opposite side edge faces, such that theelectrodes of one battery are connected to one of the side edge faces,and the electrodes of the other battery are connected to the other sideedge face.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein: the PCB includes arespective electrode contact pad on each side edge face for connectionto a respective electrode, each electrode contact pad having a widthgreater than a connective portion of a corresponding electrode tabextending between the battery and the electrode contact pad; and whereinconnecting the electrodes to the PCB comprises connecting each electrodeto a respectively corresponding edge-located electrode contact pad by awelding or soldering operation.